Common Teal vs Black Swan
Anas crecca compared with Cygnus atratus
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Attribute | Common Teal | Black Swan |
|---|---|---|
| Scientific Name | Anas crecca | Cygnus atratus |
| Order | Anseriformes | Anseriformes |
| Family | Anatidae | Anatidae |
| Conservation Status | Least Concern | Least Concern |
| Length | — | 130.0 cm (51.2 in) |
| Wingspan | 36.1 cm (14.2 in) | 190.0 cm (74.8 in) |
| Weight | 325.0 g (11.46 oz) | 6200.0 g (218.70 oz) |
| Diet | Dives for molluscs, crustaceans, and aquatic invertebrates; diet dominated by hard-shelled prey in coastal and … | Aquatic vegetation and algae, supplemented with grain and pasture grasses. Feeds by upending in shallow … |
| Clutch Size | 8-11 | 4-6 |
| Population Trend | — | — |
Size Comparison
Habitat Comparison
Common Teal
Breeds on boreal and subarctic freshwater marshes, lakes, and bogs across Eurasia. Winters on freshwater lakes, estuaries, rice paddies, and coastal marshes from northwest Europe and Africa east to Southeast Asia.
Black Swan
Lakes, rivers, swamps, and coastal waters across Australia. Also found in ornamental lakes in parks.
Song & Call Comparison
Common Teal
Male gives a ringing, bell-like krick call; female produces a soft, descending quack. The male's crystalline high note is a hallmark sound of Eurasian wetlands; flocks produce a musical tinkling …
Black Swan
Gives a musical bugling 'boo-boo-boo' in flight and softer honking on water. Less vocal than Mute Swan; produces a baying call when alarmed. Wings whistle softly in flight.
Geographic Range & Migration
Common Teal
Breeds in sub-Arctic and boreal Canada and Alaska; winters along the Pacific coast from Alaska to southern California.
Black Swan
Australia, primarily in the southeast and southwest. Introduced populations in New Zealand, Japan, and western Europe.
Conservation Status
Common Teal
Black Swan
How to Tell Them Apart
Common Teal
Males have chestnut head with iridescent green eye patch bordered cream. Gray body with horizontal white shoulder stripe. Cream and black undertail. Females mottled brown. Small and fast-flying. Iridescent green …
Black Swan
Almost entirely black with white flight feathers visible in flight. Red bill with a white band near the tip. Dark red to reddish-brown iris.
Bright red bill with a pale tip and prominent white band
About These Birds
Common Teal
A small compact dabbling duck. Males have a chestnut head with a broad metallic green eye-stripe, finely vermiculated grey body, and buff-yellow undertail coverts. The smallest regularly occurring dabbling duck in Europe. Highly migratory and one of the most abundant teal worldwide.
Black Swan
The black swan was once considered impossible by Europeans who believed all swans were white, making it a famous philosophical example of inductive reasoning failure. It is the state emblem of Western Australia. Black swans form lifelong pair bonds and both parents share in incubation and care of cygnets.